


Five Times Eli Was a Librarian (+ 1 time he wasn't)

by Ezzy



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: 5+1 Things, Books are precious, But not as precious as friends, F/M, Gen, Hint of Character Death, Libraries, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-01
Updated: 2012-07-01
Packaged: 2017-11-08 23:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/448835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezzy/pseuds/Ezzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tommy, thought Eli furiously, was like something from the thriller/horror section. Fast-paced, and engrossing but ultimately without depth. Something to occupy yourself with whilst commuting, but not thought provoking or you could really get your teeth into.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Eli Was a Librarian (+ 1 time he wasn't)

1) 

 

Tommy, thought Eli furiously, was like something from the thriller/horror section. Fast-paced, and engrossing but ultimately without depth. Something to occupy yourself with whilst commuting, but not thought provoking or you could really get your teeth into. 

Kate, meanwhile, was a business book; factual, direct, helpful, and could get the job done. A little forceful and unrealistic at times, but ultimately engaging and with something to offer. So very unlike Tommy or his trashy genre that the two of them would never work out, or even vaguely correspond. 

And that was why he scowled at the customer who tries to get both a thriller/horror detective novel and a business guide at the same time the next day. 

 

2)

When Billy mentioned that his Dad would sometimes read trashy medical romances just to correct the terminology, Eli made a note to check the library's Mills & Boon medical section for marks. 

It didn’t matter that the books were patently ridiculous, there were a lot of customers who might find such ‘corrections’ spoiled their reading experience. Besides, a book was a book and it deserved some respect, and that included not being written in. 

He might need to have a little talk with Mr Kaplan, should he ever meet the man.

 

3) 

Their argument had been ferocious, and had left Eli reeling, even as it left him furiously angry. Despite the fact it had been hours ago he still wanted to punch something, but as he was on shift he could only content himself with putting the books back in order with more aggression than usual.

Stupid general public who can’t put books back where they found them. 

In fact he was so caught up in reordering the children’s section (Years five to seven), he barely paid attention to the footsteps until they stopped, right behind him. 

“Look, I’m sorry, I was out of line. We were both out of line, but I felt like I should at least take a mature approach to this, rather than - are you alphabetising?”

Eli could here both the mockery and incredulity in Kate’s voice as she assessed his coping method for this particular bout of theirs. 

He scowled, and went back to work without turning around.

“It’s called stricting.”

 

4) 

Sometimes, just to annoy him, Tommy would rearrange all the books and DVDs in their lair. It always worked. 

That Vision was the only one who ever noticed, let alone cared enough to put them back in their correct order made Eli think that, despite the fact he was an Android, Jonas was the only one of his team with a soul. 

 

5)

Eli knew Billy was hurting, and that was what made him take the subway on his one day off from both school and work to the Upper West Side. 

He’d never been to the Kaplan residence, though he’d certainly heard about the occupants. That was how, when he introduced himself to Mrs Kaplan, and she only gave him a penetrating, analysing stare but didn’t go all Spanish Inquisition on him, he knew it was bad. 

Billy’s room was a mess of items and grief. There were comics everywhere, as if a paper-bomb of comics had gone off and the small figure at the epicenter was both the cause and the victim. 

Eli didn’t know whether Billy had been searching for information, comfort or just something to take his emotions out on. But from the way he huddled on the floor, shoulders hunched and drowning in an oversized-football jersey that definitely wasn’t his, he clearly hadn’t found it. 

Stunned by this display, and not knowing what to do now that he was faced with the reality of Billy’s pain, Eli did what he knew. He began tidying the comics away again. 

After a few minutes of this, a small voice finally emerged from the Billy-ball on the floor.

“That box is for the West-Coast Avengers, not the Amazing Avengers. They’re labelled”

To his surprise Eli didn’t snap back, or reply at all, he just calmly took out what he’d already ordered and found their appropriate long-box.

It was a new system to him, but Eli recognised the calming effect of having everything in its place. 

 

+1) 

Eli would remember that exchange years later, when he found Teddy throwing those carefully ordered boxes as far as he could within the confines of the room, stomping and ripping at them if they got too close to him. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He yelled at Teddy, not quiet like he’d been with Billy. But Billy’s had been a quiet grief, whilst Teddy’s was as loud as it was destructive. He growled, low and deadly, as Eli began to pick up and gently smooth the crumpled comics, much as he had with Billy all those years ago. 

“Billy-"

The name chocked slightly as it passed his tongue, but he pressed onwards,

“Billy liked them in order.”

Teddy’s eyes filled with a dangerous cocktail of rage, grief and heartbreak. 

“Yeah, well where is he now to tell me that? Where’s he to care about his stupid comics and their stupid ordering system?”

Eli swallows, faced with Teddy Altman at his most unstable, and chooses his next words as carefully as possible.

“If he’s not as gone as Cap thinks, then he’ll probably have a lot to say about his stupid comics and their stupid ordering system.”

The glimmer of hope that replaces the grief is almost as terrifying, because Eli knows that if the Cap’s suspicion is wrong, neither the comics nor Teddy will probably survive. 

So when Teddy rushes out, and he follows, leaving the comics in their trashed state, he lets himself be a friend before a librarian.


End file.
